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Find activists, groups, and events right in your own neighborhood. Join FreedomConnector to get involved and learn more about key issues threatening our economic freedom. Whether you’re looking for like-minded people, trying to boost your existing group’s impact, or simply trying to stay up on current events, FreedomConnector is the place to start. See what’s happening in your state today!

As we've blogged before, there is a movement underfoot in California to help push back the harmful state cap and trade scheme during tough economic times. This week, those folks got one step closer to seeing their proposed suspension on the ballot this November.
The San Jose Mercury News reports:

If it's true that states are the "laboratories of democracy" California's cap and trade experiment should be considered a failed one and the federal government ought to think twice about implementing the same economy-killing measures across the nation. The Wall Street Journal has the story of a possible ballot measure to at least temporarily repeal California's cap and trade carbon tax.

This past Saturday, June 27, a group of Temecula, CA free-market activists led by Bridget Blanton staged a spur of the moment protest against the cap and trade legislation that passed the House the previous evening. The demonstrators urged passerby to get involved and call their Senators as the legislation progresses.

Just over a month ago, Californians went to the polls and delivered a resounding “No tax hikes” to their state leaders. Legislators have had four weeks to come up with a better plan that will work for the state and guess what their solution is?More tax hikes! Take Action and tell your lawmakers more tax hikes are unacceptable.That’s right, more tax hikes. Except that these are different tax hikes they think the public won’t see through, regardless of the fact that it’s always the same folks who end up footing the bill. Tax proposals now on the table include $2.2 billion in various taxes on business, a 9.9 percent tax on oil extraction, and a massive $1.50/pack cigarette tax hike.California legislators must think the taxpayers are pretty gullible to swallow this new plan. Taxing business, just when many are fleeing the high taxes of the state, when others are bleeding jobs and struggling in the current economy is a terrible idea. Taxing oil extraction falls in the same category. It isn’t some faceless corporation that drills for energy – it’s people who could use those jobs. And it isn’t just some entity in the sky that absorbs those high taxes – it’s people who will have to pay at the pump.Cigarette tax hikes are a selfish cash grab that tries to put the economic woes of a state on a small, often-targeted minority. They also hurt small businesses as people go across statelines, or to the black market and internet for cheaper cigarettes.No one would deny that California is in a bind. But this is a problem that can’t be taxed away. When these tax sources dry up, and if history is any guide they certainly will, legislators will simply tax something else. Legislators were elected to do a job and that means making tough decisions, not just creating more taxes for the group that drew the short straw that day. Spending has far outpaced growth in the state. In good years, California’s government spent as if the revenue would never end rather than keeping spending in line with priorities. Take Action and urge your legislators not to seek quick fixes that will only push the problem down the road a short ways, but to stop playing favorites with programs and benefits and do the real cutting that needs that be done. During hard times, every family has to cut back. There’s no reason why governments shouldn’t do the same.

A few months ago, on the way to the office, I witnessed a typically DC self-defeating scene. A man riding on a mini-street sweeper finished the block, stopped to empty the trash in the back, and tossed his cigarette on the ground on his way back to the sweeper. I was a bit galled - and it speaks to larger problems inherent in the system - but it never occurred to me to tax the cigarettes. I was leaning more toward "why not take one more step and throw it in the trash" or "care about your job."

In comments to the Sacramento Bee late last week, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger magnanimously agreed to consider a proposal to maybe discuss a flat tax rate on income in California. Much like similarly surprising talk of ending marijuana prohibition, the news makes for great headlines, but taxpayers should avoid any real optimism for the time being.While Schwarzenegger cleverly pays lip service to what some consider the holy grail of tax code reform, at a suggested flat rate of 15 percent, he has actually proposed a massive tax increase. Currently, even the wealthiest Californians pay “only” 9.3 percent. In the seven states where a flat tax is already in effect, the average rate is just 4.1 percent.

Governor Schwarzenegger has proposed a $500 million cut to welfare in California to help terminate the state's $5.5 billion shortfall. On top of the cut in spending, Arnold is even considering a 15 percent flat tax.

It's common knowledge that California is going broke. So broke they're asking for TARP money, a program whose beneficiaries can't get out of fast enough. It was bad enough when they took my money to give to banks and companies that made bad decisions - but naysayers were explained away with words about "systemic risk" and "too big to fail." With a GDP among the top ten in the world (were it an independent country), it's hard to see how we won't see those same platitudes trotted out again.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Washington this week for the National Governors Association meetings. During the Presidential campaign, he called Obama's economic policy European socialism and called Obama "scrawny." Now he's praising the stimulus package that will bring California over $60 billion in federal money and saying Republicans who opposed the stimulus are not "team players." Back in 2004 he was praising the free market in his classic "Don't be economic girlie men" speech to the Republican National Convention: